Journal Article Epublish 1 citation
PubMed: 38498428 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0299210
Factors associated with COVID-19 among hospitalized patients with severe acute respiratory infections in Serbia, 2022-2023: A test negative case-control study.
PLoS One 19(3):e0299210
Authors: Maja Stosic, Dragana Plavsa, Verica Jovanovic, Marko Veljkovic, Dragan Babic, Aleksandra Knezevic, Vladan Saponjic, Dragana Dimitrijevic, Miljan Rancic, Marija Milic, Tatjana Adzic-Vukicevic
Affiliations
- Institute of Public Health of Serbia "Dr Milan Jovanovic Batut", Belgrade, Serbia.
- Institute for Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
- World Health Organization, Country Office Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia.
- Department of Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Pristina Temporarily Seated in Kosovska Mitrovica, Kosovska Mitrovica, Serbia.
- COVID Hospital "Batajnica", University Clinical Centre of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia.
- Clinic for Pulmonology, University Clinical Centre of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia.
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) are estimated to be the cause of death in about 19% of all children younger than 5 years globally. The outbreak of coronaviral disease (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2, increased considerably the burden of SARI worldwide. We used data from a vaccine effectiveness study to identify the factors associated with SARS CoV-2 infection among hospitalized SARI patients. We recruited SARI patients at 3 hospitals in Serbia from 7 April 2022-1 May 2023. We collected demographic and clinical data from patients using a structured questionnaire, and all SARI patients were tested for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR. We conducted an unmatched test negative case-control study. SARS-CoV-2 infected SARI patients were considered cases, while SARS CoV-2 negative SARI patients were controls. We conducted bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analysis in order to identify variables associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. We included 110 SARI patients: 74 were cases and 36 controls. We identified 5 factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 positivity, age (OR  =  1.04; 95% CI  =  1.01-1.07), having received primary COVID-19 vaccine series (OR  =  0.28; 95% CI  =  0.09-0.88), current smoking (OR  =  8.64; 95% CI  =  2.43-30.72), previous SARS CoV-2 infection (OR  =  3.48; 95% CI  =  1.50-8.11) and number of days before seeking medical help (OR  =  0.81; 95% CI  =  0.64-1.02). In Serbia during a period of Omicron circulation, we found that older age, unvaccinated, hospitalized SARI patients, previously infected with SARS CoV-2 virus and those who smoked, were more likely to be SARS-CoV-2-positive; these patient populations should be prioritized for COVID vaccination.
MeSH
Sars-Cov-2, Vaccines, Case-Control Studies, Respiratory Tract Infections, Covid-19, Infections